Marie Harte - Closing the Deal

Sydney sat up straight. “You think that’s what I’ve been doing all these years? Thinking I’m her?”

“Aren’t you? Unlike her, you don’t try to convince yourself you love any of them. You just use them for sex. But not one guy you’ve ever dated has been what I’d call nice.”

“Maybe I like bad boys.” Derrick definitely had a naughty side to him. Or at least, he used to have one.

“Can you honestly tell me you’ve ever liked anyone you’ve dated?”

“Sure. There was—”

“That you slept with,” Hailey clarified.

To her mortification, Sydney couldn’t. Not until Derrick, except he wasn’t sleeping with her anymore. Her eyes filled. “Oh my God. I’m exactly like her. I’m Isabel Fields!” Her worst fear come true.

Hailey rushed to her side and hugged her. “Stop it. You are not.”

“But Hailey, I’m a user. I’m terrible.” She hadn’t meant to treat her boyfriends like crap. But so many of them had deserved it. Maybe because she’d intentionally picked assholes?

“You’re not a user, you’re not your mother—God forbid—and you’re growing out of it.”

“Growing how? My ass? My thighs? What? Where? You think I’m gaining weight?” she joked, trying to stop feeling sorry for herself.

Hailey snorted with laughter. “You’re the vainest woman I know. Would you shut up a minute? You’re not fat. Come to think of it, you feel thinner to me.”

She groaned. “I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I think about that jerk all the time.”

“Who?”

“Derrick, Hailey. Focus, would you?”

“Oh, right. I didn’t realize he was such a jerk.”

More tears threatened to fall. “He won’t have sex with me. He’s a complete jerk…except he’s not . That’s what’s so awful. I made all these rules he’s actually following. We’re not supposed to date, and we aren’t. We were just supposed to get the sex out of the way. And I guess we did, but I still want him all the time. So we don’t have sex, and we hang out. And I…”

“Yeah?”

“I like him.” She burst into tears.

Gage chose that moment to step into the room. He took one look at them on the couch, turned around and left.

“God. N-now I’m man-repellent,” Sydney stuttered through her tears. “I’m an idiot. I don’t even know why I’m crying. But I feel so emotional lately. I think I connect with Derrick, and I’m so afraid one day he’ll just stop coming around. But I’m also afraid he might stay. Does that make sense, or am I totally crazy?”

Hailey nodded. “Oh honey. I sometimes feel the same way. It’s hard to put yourself out there. You just have to live it day in and day out. Trust yourself, then trust him.”

“Him?” She didn’t want to say his name, to admit she was in danger of falling in love with one of the Warren twins. Oh my God! She was falling hard for Derrick Warren with no way to stop.

“Don’t be an idiot. We’re talking about the man you’ve fallen in love with.”

Sydney felt the truth like a slap in the face when Hailey said the words. Not falling for. Fallen for. For three months she’d talked to him, falling slowly under his spell. He was sexy, had a great sense of humor, and came from a family that showed each other how much they cared. Then the sex had been perfect. Not just great, not just wow, but incredibly right. They fit each other, and he was the most unselfish lover she’d ever been with.

A man that made sure she came before he did? Unheard of. But the last two weeks had worn her down. She counted the minutes until they saw one another. The hint of a dark SUV like his made her heart jump. Receiving text messages from him thrilled her. Beck’s Loser had become her favorite friggin’ song.

“I hate the way I feel, all needy and lovesick,” she admitted in a quiet voice.

Hailey stroked her hair. “I know. It sucks. But look at it this way. I bet he feels the same way.”

The thought amused her, and then she felt a measure of inspiration. “You think?”

“Yep.” She glanced around again. “I’m not supposed to say anything, but I know he’s having a hard time knowing what to do with you. He even consulted his mom about you, because he was frantic to get you to talk to him. Hell, he used me too.”

“He did, didn’t he?” The knowledge that he’d gone crazy when she wouldn’t talk to him softened her up even more.

“Sydney, you’re the most confident woman I know. If you want a stable relationship with anyone, Derrick or any other guy, take back control. When I finally realized how I felt about Gage, you told me to believe in myself. Well, back at you, girlfriend. Do you think you can have a meaningful relationship with a man? Or are you just like your mother?”

“I don’t want to be like her. Most of the time, I don’t even like her. I’m a terrible person, aren’t I?”

“Not at all. I don’t like her much either. But you didn’t answer the question. Are you just like your mother? Would you ignore a friend or daughter for a man?”

“Hell no.”

“Not even for Derrick?”

If there was a man she might cling to, it was him. And yet, she’d never leave Hailey hurting or needing her just to make Derrick happy. “Not even for him.”

“Have you ever followed a man around because he’s your sugar daddy? Or do you make a comfortable living on your own? Do you have friends? Are you selfish? Are you on your sixth marriage?”

“No, no, no and no. Wait, how many questions did you ask?” She shared a teary grin with Hailey. “You always make me feel better. Well, you do when it’s not before noon.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So okay. If I want to try being a real person dating a real man, what do I do?”

Hailey shrugged. “Wake him up. Shake him up. That’s what I’d do if Gage hadn’t made love to me in a few weeks. The one time I wore this really sexy outfit, he went out of his mind.”

Sydney nodded. “I actually have a few ideas. Can I borrow that French maid costume you wore to last year’s Halloween party?”

“Oh boy.” Hailey gave her a high-five. “Derrick is not going to know what hit him tonight, is he?”

“Nope.” The time had come to prove Sydney was nothing like her mother. She liked Derrick a lot. More than a lot.

He helped people. Mentored kids at the junior college on his own time. He loved his family. A guy who knew what loyalty meant and respected women was a rarity in her world of users and losers. Hell, she’d met Barbara Warren once before. No way would that woman let her son grow up to be a chauvinist.

It was time to turn up the heat and see what Derrick was like under real pressure. If she had to stir his interest by showing a little skin in public and turning the tables, so be it. This time she’d play hard to get, and she’d snag him before he knew what had hit him. Sydney was a hell of a lot more than just any woman. She was a prize to be won, and it was past time she remembered that.

Time for the games to begin.

Derrick felt like an idiot wearing a pirate shirt that bared his chest and tight black trousers that clung to his thighs, but the women at the party seemed to like his costume well enough. Where the hell was Sydney? He hadn’t seen her or Hailey, come to think of it. Then he spotted Gage by the punch bowl.

The annual Halloween bash brought in tons of new clients. Warren Construction and a few other businesses provided the funds while the Conservation Center set up the decorations in their community hall. Located right on the River Walk, the place had the right atmosphere for a Halloween party. Tonight the moonlight glinted off the Savannah River while the outdoor hall remained shrouded in shadow, the dim lighting and dry ice providing the perfect environment for ghosts and ghouls to come calling.